Video shows Rafael Veraza holding his face after he and his family we reallegedly sprayed through open car window

Video shows Rafael Veraza holding his face after he and his family were allegedly sprayed through open car window

An Illinois man said his US citizen family – including his one-year-old daughter – were pepper-sprayed in their car by federal immigration agents during a shopping trip in a Chicago suburb.

Video of the encounter outside a Sam’s Club in Cicero shows Rafael Veraza clutching at his face after he was allegedly sprayed through his open window by a cloudy substance fired by a masked agent from a pick-up truck traveling in the opposite direction.

Veraza, 25, told reporters his wife told him to stop their car because she, their daughter, and sister were also hit. The images show the aftermath of the episode with the girl in distress in her mother’s arms with her eyes streaming.

“My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe,” Veraza told reporters at a press conference Sunday, a day after an operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the store.

  • Englishgrinn@lemmy.caEnglish
    73·
    1 day ago

    Obligatory “Fuck ICE” naturally, but this one is particularly jarring. For 3 reasons-

    A) “from a pick-up truck travelling in the opposite direction”. What. Tha. Fuck. They are drive-by pepper spraying brown people without pulling them over?

    B) Goes without saying at this point, but everyone in that vehicle was a US citizen.

    C) DHS straight up lied, denied that anything happened in that parking lot, at all. When it comes to ICE misconduct, the Federal government’s official stance is “pics or it didn’t happen”. Which is a good reminder for everyone to film these animals constantly.

    I want to ask, “When will this insanity end?” But of course I know the answer. When the American people make it end and not before.

    • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
      25·
      21 hours ago

      It should go without saying but their citizenship should have no bearing on their treatment. If they were undocumented, this behaviour would still not be justified.

      People without legal status in ones nation state are not less worthy of human rights.

      • Englishgrinn@lemmy.caEnglish
        6·
        18 hours ago

        Of course I agree with you completely, it just further illustrates ICEs intellectual dishonesty.

    • VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca
      9·
      21 hours ago

      While driving ! Could have crashed into oncoming traffic or people walking and all !